


Third Time’s a Charm

by Insertpoetryhere



Series: High School Theater AU [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M, and shenanigans ensue, basically they’re all in their highschool drama club, everyone is emotional but can’t deal with it, this is super self indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-05-20 08:32:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14891151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Insertpoetryhere/pseuds/Insertpoetryhere
Summary: Pidge has Never really had a hard time with asking anyone to homecoming, mainly because she’s never gone. But then Lance comes into the picture, proving that there’s a first time for everything.





	Third Time’s a Charm

**Author's Note:**

> I know I’ve been dead for months, please accept this awkward pining as an apology!

If there was one thing in her life that Pidge had to be proud of, it was the lack of drama that she had going on. Yes, despite being a theater kid with a few relatively sketchy, over the top friends in a high school where everyone knew everything about everyone, there was still nothing about her. Yup, her life was pretty well put together… Or at least it was until about two weeks before homecoming.

“Ouch!” Keith yelled, dropping the hammer he had been holding and grasped his hand, letting out a few choice words in the process. Pidge stopped painting and looked over at him while Hunk glared at him from the other side of the stage.

“Hey, don’t play around with the tools!” He yelled. Pidge laughed a little, but Keith didn't look too amused.

“Listen, I didn't come in here on a weekend to be yelled at for almost breaking my hand!” He spat back, still cradling his slightly reddish hand.

“You're right, you came here because you set one of the AP world textbooks on fire.” Hunk laughed. Keith turned red in the face.

“On accident!” He protested, Pidge laughed. Keith had a lot of “accidents” like this, and almost all of them involved the fire alarm being pulled. His options for detention are normally either helping build sets for assisting at a nursing home. Simply put, he was in here a lot.

The day was going pretty normal, with their director, Coran, and senior stage managers, Shiro and Allura, occasionally stopping in to check on their progress (whenever it was Shiro coming in to check on them, Keith would suddenly become the freaking model of what a set constructor should be). Yup… Everything was just as it normally was…

Then he showed up.

The doors burst open at around noon, when everyone had taken their lunch break, and when Pidge saw the guy who walked in, she almost dropped her peanut butter sandwich. She immediately recognized him as the junior who had gotten cast as the lead role in the fall play, The Government Inspector. She had never really seen him up close, but from what she had seen from her little place backstage, he was a pretty good Helestikov. The real question is who gave him the right to be both talented and cute? His darker skin and dark brown hair just contrasted perfectly with his light blue eyes, and his physique was… What was the right word? Oh yeah. Perfect. It was perfect. Perfect and entirely unfair to everyone around him.

He must have noticed her staring, because he made eye contact with her just long enough to give her a friendly wave before she quickly broke it off. She was hoping that the exchange between the two of them would end right there. But noooo, apparently whatever deity that controlled the earth was out to make her life into some cliche romcom, because apparently the guy (Lance, which must have been his name since that's what Hunk called him) was not the only one to notice Pidge staring. Oh no, someone else just had to notice too. And not just “someone else”. Oh no. The one who noticed just had to be Keith “Notoriously Bad Wingman” Kogane..

“I saw that.” He smirked over at Pidge with raised eyebrows. Pidge immediately knew what he was referring to, and decided to play it cool.

“Saw what?” Her voice cracked. Impressive display, Pidge.

“You were staring at Lance!” His face was doing that thing where it lit up and he looked super excited… Never a good sign.

“Lance, what Lance? I don't know a Lance.” She tried to nonchalantly look over at the freaking god on the other side of the stage, which in all honesty probably looked more like she was trying to give herself whiplash. “Oh, that Lance? Nope, don't know him, never heard of him. Hey, are you hungry, because I sure am.”

“Don't worry, I've got you.” Oh god… The words every teenager dreaded to hear from their best friend. Before she could stop him, he had picked up a cherry tomato from the Tupperware container beside him and chucked it at the back of Lance’s head. The Latino boy stopped his conversation with Hunk and turned around. Keith then pointed at Pidge (the freaking snake), and Lance had the nerve, the audacity, to smile at her. Who did he think he was? … Oh god, he was getting up. OH GOD HE WAS WALKING OVER!

“Hey, I don't think we’ve ever met. I'm Lance.” He held out his hand, which Pidge reluctantly took.

“Hi… I'm Pidge.” She wished once more that their interactions ended at that, but it wasn't that simple. No, instead he hung out with them for the rest of the day, telling stupid jokes and being unreasonably cute and charming. He even ended up joining them for ice cream. Simply put, by the time she got back home, Pidge had developed a big fat crush on Lance McClain…. Great.

\---------

“You should ask him out.” The statement came out of the blue about a week later, while Pidge and Keith were sitting with Hunk in the cafeteria, waiting for Lance to meet up with them.

“No.” Pidge said plainly, burying her nose farther into the book she was reading. 

“Yes. You should do it. Today.” Keith persisted. He turned to Hunk. “Hunk, do you think she should do it?” Pidge smirked a little. She knew Hunk way better that Keith did, and he would never-

“Yeah, what's the worst that could happen?”

Traitor.

“Where would I even ask him to go?” She asked, feeling relatively disheartened. Even if she managed to gather up enough courage to ask him out, she had no idea what kind of stuff he was into, or really any idea of what local places might be fun to go. Keith looked at her as if she was an idiot.

“Homecoming would be a good start.” He stated bluntly. Oh. Yeah… That. Pidge wasn't really into the whole school dance scene…. But Keith was right about one thing.

It wasn't a bad start.

“Fine, but on one condition.” Pidge smirked. If Keith was going to be a pest, then she was going to return the favor. “If I succeed, you have to ask Shiro.”

Keith’s smiled faltered a little bit, but nevertheless, he stuck out his hand for her to shake. An action that she eagerly returned.

“Deal.”

\---------

Pidge was starting to regret this decision. As she stood at the side of the house, homecoming poster in one hand and a few small pebbles in the other, she suddenly realized that the only preparation she had really done for this was her 24 hours of watching cheesy movies with Keith and picking which trope to follow that was both cute and could be worked on a budget. So now she was here, ready to throw rocks at a window.

… She failed to see how this was all that romantic, but it was either this or spend the next month leaving little notes in his locker until one day he just “accidentally” catches her doing it and she confesses all. Seeing as she was on a time limit, this was the only option.

She double checked the address one more time. Yup, 1445 Highland Avenue. This was the address Keith gave her (apparently, the two of them worked on some project together last year… Who would have guessed Pidge would have these connections).

She took a deep breath and swung her arm back, bringing it forward as fast as she could. Letting go of the pebble and watching it soar through the air towards the second story window, she braced herself for what would happen next… But nothing happened.

She repeated this action about five more times, growing increasingly frustrated with its each throw, until finally she heard movement. Her face turned red as she started to unfold the poster, and-

“WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE THROWING ROCKS AT MY WINDOW AT THIS TIME?” That wasn't Lance! Pidge quick jumped behind a bush as an old white guy stuck his head out of the window and began looking around, yelling every profanity in the book. Something moved out of the corner of her eye, causing Pidge to turn her head slightly. Standing on the porch of the house across the street was Lance, looking over at the house she was at with concern. Confused, she pulled out her phone to check the address once more.

1454 Highland Avenue….

Whoops.

\---------

“I'm telling you, that old guy is insane!” Pidge walked up to the table that they all usually sat at, finding that everyone was already there. Lance was leading the discussion, waving his arms wildly… guess what he was talking about?

“Hey Pidge, you came just in time! Lance was telling us this really interesting story!” Keith looked way too amused for his own good. Freaking snake.

“My neighbor claims I was at his house, throwing rocks at his window! My mom is pissed. She actually believed that dipshit!” He threw his hands up in surrender, very much in a “come at me bro” kind of way. Pidge looked away.

“Yeah…” She trailed off a little. “That sucks…”

As she sat down, Keith leaned back so that Lance couldn't see him and mouthed one word. 

“Tonight.”

\---------

“So… do I just stand here or…?” Keith jerked his head over to the bushes on the side of the house. Pidge sighed. Keith had been… pretty insistent about coming with this time. She just gave him a quick nod and put her finger up to her lips, trying to politely tell him to shut up.

“Don't get too worked up, no one can hear me.” He deadpanned, crouching awkwardly behind a shrub. Pidge just rolled her eyes and looked up at the second story window. It was higher than the one at the other house… like actually kinda really higher. She looked down at the rock in her hand, built up that little bit of confidence she had, and threw it as hard as she possibly could…

And then watched it bounce off the siding. She and Keith stood (or in his case, crouched) in awkward silence for a second.

“Wow… that sucked.” Keith spoke up from behind his shrub, causing Pidge to glare at him.

“I was… just warming up…” she averted her eyes down at the ground. Keith rolled his eyes, but nevertheless shut up.

Pidge took a couple more… practice throws before he finally spoke up again.

“Alright, my turn.” He got up and tried to take the rocks out of her hand, but she moved them away.

“No, I've got this!” She threw another, missing the window entirely. He shot her a look that could only be translated as “oh really”. She crossed her arms. “You distracted me.”

He sighed, taking the rocks from her. “Yeah, I'm sure that's it.”

He arched his arm, letting it go and watching it it fly to the window… Just a little too fast…

The next thing the two heard was shattering glass and the sound of a woman yelling in Spanish. Oh sh-

“Gotta blast!” Keith grabbed Pidge by the back of her hoodie and half dragged her down the street, throwing her into the passenger side of the truck. She looked behind them at the house as he started the engine. The widow they just broke opened (which seemed a little redundant) and out popped Lance’s head. One thing was for sure, he didn't see them, but he definitely saw the truck.

\---------

They didn't see Lance at lunch, which was definitely enough to cause a little anxiety.

“He knows it was us.” Pidge whispered to Keith as the two of them walked out of the school.

“No, he's not smart enough to know it was us.” Keith deadpanned, not trying to keep his voice down at all. Pidge elbowed him in the ribs, which might have hurted if she actually had any upper body strength. He just laughed.

“Seriously, you're being paran-” He stopped suddenly when they both got tapped on the shoulder. He whirled around with his arms out, one directly in front of him and one bent in front of him at a 90 degree angle… nice to see that those Karate lessons from 3rd grade finally paid off.

Lance backed up a bit with his hands up in mock surrender.

“Ok, hot head, no need to get violent! I just wanted to say hi!” He laughed a little and Pidge melted a little inside… In a friend way, of course.

“Oh um… Hey.” Keith slowly put his hands in his pockets and looking overall humiliated. “Where were you at lunch?”

Lance sighed. “Counselor's office… Mr. Derek wanted me to talk to him about my plans for the future or something? Honestly, I was kinda spacing out.” He shrugged his shoulders a little, turned to Pidge, and smiled.

“So, you doing anything tonight?” The question was directed to both of them, but his eyes mainly stayed on Pidge… Wait, she might have been imagining that last part. Keith looked between the two of them and held back a smile and opened his mouth to say something… Then Pidge cut him off.

“Sorry, can't! Homework!” She turned quickly to Keith, glaring slightly and grabbing his arm. “See you later!” She pulled Keith all the way over to his truck, practically throwing him into the front seat. 

“Hey!” He exclaimed, rubbing the part of his head that got banged against the frame of the car door. “What gives?” Pidge just popped herself into the passenger seat, blushing furiously and she buckled her seatbelt.

“I could tell you were about to say something stupid.” She stated. “... Plus talking to him just kinda makes me… ya know…”

“Aggressive?” Keith guessed. Pidge jabbed him with her elbow again and Keith laughed. “Ok, but seriously. You are asking him out before anyone ends up getting maimed.”

“I can’t tell if that’s a threat or a challenge.” Pidge smiled. “But I think I see your point. I’ll give it one last shot tonight.”

“Hey, third time’s a charm right?” Keith started the truck, pulling out of his spot shakily and driving away a little too fast. 

What the duo didn’t know was that Lance was watching them as they drove off… or rather, he was watching the truck they drove off in.

\---------

Alright Pidge… she thought, adjusting her sign in her hands awkwardly. You can do this!

She looked back up at Lance’s window, holding the rock in her hand and mentally preparing to throw it. Welp, now or never.

She arched her arm one last time, whipping it forward and letting the rock fly… just in time for Lance to stick his head out the window.

“Who’s th-“ THWACK! 

The stone hit Lance square in the nose, causing him to stumble backwards. Pidge heard a loud crash, followed by even louder cursing. 

She took it as a sign to bolt. Sprinting across the lawn and down the street, she hopped into the passenger seat of Keith’s car.

“What happened?” Keith asked, startled. 

“Just drive!”

\---------

The next day, Pidge decided that it was probably best to not talk to Lance. And while ignoring him until this entire situation passed over seemed pretty easy on paper, in practice it turned out to be one of the most difficult things she’d ever done.

Her day had pretty much been void of any humor or fun, since in order to avoid Lance she also had to avoid the rest of their friend group. Simply put, sitting in their biology teacher’s room for lunch and listening to her complain about her ex-husband was not the most entertaining way to spend her time.

Later that night, Pidge sat in her room, half reading The Giver and half thinking about how she could have possibly screwed up so badly. Next to her was a microwave meal (courtesy of Matthew Holt, local kitchen catastrophe) that had been half picked at, but not fully eaten. As she pondered exactly what could have gone wrong (Keith. Keith was what went wrong.) she suddenly took notice to a strange tapping noise.

Tap…

Tap…

She looked up from her book and took a look around, unable to figure out where the noise was coming from.

Tap… tap…

She then got up and peeked her head out in the hallway, looking back and forth but still not being able to figure out where it was coming from. Until…

Ocean man! Take me by the hand, take me to the land!

No…

She ran over to her window, opening it up and poking her head out a bit too eagerly. Standing there, as if this were some sort of dream or cheesy ending to a fanfiction, was Lance McClain.

Once he saw her, Lance’s face beamed with excitement as he quickly paused Ocean Man on his phone and held up a poster. On the plain white poster, written in thick, blue sharpie was the word “homecoming” with a “?” written in green. Lance smiled up at her bashfully.

“I’m sorry, I know this is last minute…” he trailed off, scratching the back of his neck and almost dropping the poster in the process. Pidge had to stifle a laugh, with only made Lance blush. “But I’ll be honest, I thought you didn’t like me. Like, at all.”

Pidge wrinkled her nose, trying to wonder how he could have possibly thought that… then she remembered how she had a tendency to book it whenever he tried to talk to her.

“Well, at least I thought that until I finally asked Keith today at lunch. He pretty much told me everything. So, as long as you don’t mind me stealing your idea…” Lance then cleared his throat and held his poster higher. “Katherine ‘Pidge’ Holt, will you do me the honor of accompanying me to the Homecoming Dance?”

At first, Pidge didn’t answer. She was just in this state of absolute shock, not really knowing whether or not this was a dream. But several seconds a a few good arm pinches later, Pidge smiled, grabbed her shoes, and plucked them on as she ran down the stairs.

Darting out of the house, she ran and hugged Lance with a force so great that she nearly knocked him over. After he regained his balance, Lance laughed and hugged her back.

“Sooo…” he pondered outloud. “Is this a yes?”

Pidge looked up backed up a little and looked in his eyes, practically glowing in the moonlight. She then got up on her tiptoes and gave him a peck on the cheek.

“Yes!”


End file.
